A Woggle of Witches

"In a dark, dense forest the witches live, sleeping safely in the branches of tall trees," begins this deliciously creepy picture-book, written and illustrated by the marvelous Adrienne Adams, whose artwork can also be found in many of the vintage editions of Rumer Godden's work (books like The Story of Holly and Ivy, and Candy Floss) that I have on my shelves.

The simple narrative follows the witches as they hold a woodland feast, fly off to the moon together, and return home, exhausted but happy. The full-color illustrations are absolutely spell-binding (pun intended!), sometimes creepy, sometimes adorable! I loved the scene in which the witches sleep, swinging in hammocks strung between the trees, or the one in which they circle an show more obviously dubious moon. A Woggle of Witches is one I would have enjoyed poring over, as a girl, and I recommend it to all young readers who loved witchy books! show less

The witches are frightened by strange creatures on the night of their special celebration.

From its adorable title to its whimsical art, A Woggle of Witches is just plain ol' FUN.

My favorite part was the ending in which the trick-or-treaters scare the witches which flipped the ordinary expectation of who scares who and what's scary on Halloween.

I wish I would've known about this book when I was a little kid.

4.5 stars

Meet a woggle of witches deep in the heart of the dark forest as they wake up to celebrate Halloween! You might ask, "What's a woggle?" Silly mortal, a woggle is a group of witches...at least so author/illustrator Adrienne Adams leads us to understand. Written in 1971, this picture book is without a doubt my favorite one of all the Halloween picture books. It features double page illustrations and minimal text that still packs in plenty of humor and spooky fun.

All of the watercolor illustrations in this book show shadowy nighttime scenery and lots of details from the inside track of the witchy world. Did you know that witches sleep high in the tops of ancient trees, in hammocks of spiderweb hung from branch to branch? "On a certain show more night, when the moon is high, one calls, "Wake up. Time for the feast is come!" Scoop a little bat stew out of the bubbling cauldron and then grab your broomstick for some ace flying. "Leave the dishes. It's time to go!"

I counted a least 34 witches whose excited and joyous expressions light up the spooky darkened skies as they cut loose to celebrate their favorite night of the year. We follow them from the long feast table, see them running and jumping astride their brooms, soaring into a moonlit sky festooned with shreds of tattered cloud. They do fancy flying tricks. Look! They can fly with no hands! That one's standing on her broom! They can fly up to the moon whose big yellow face looks mighty surprised. All of the witches have black dresses, pointy black hats, scraggly gray hair...and happy smiles.

But what's this?! The witches get "spooked" by some trick-or-treaters that send them flying back home to the safety of their forest. "It's a parade of those monsters! Let's get out of here!"

The kids to whom I've read this love the frightened expressions on the woggle of witches as they hide in the cornfield to avoid the SCARY children. I love the exciting atmosphere of celebration that this book creates with so few words. Each richly illustrated double page spread has only three or four short lines of text. I think the 3-8 year old group will all love the pictures. I also think this is a nice short bedtime story for the Halloween season. Even the most tired Mom or Dad can squeeze in the few minutes this book will take to read and little ones will love the fun and felicitous feelings they are left with as they go to sleep. show less

I stumbled across a picture from the book on Instagram, which hammered my memory to this book I had completely forgotten about. Naturally I immediately checked it out from the library. The narrative doesn't translate as well for an adult audience (not that a kid's book necessarily should). But all the kudos for the art and colors, the idea of witches sleeping in hammocks among the trees, and the idea of witches being utterly terrified of kids in Halloween costumes.

One of the best Halloween books ever! Simply understated in a way children can understand. Fantastic, interesting illustrations.

A really sweet book. Whether you love halloween (like myself) or you just need a nice little story. These illustrations will carry you through into a soft, magical, halloween time.

Halloween
Case 2
Shelf 2
Halloween